It's official: DTV "hard date" moved to June 12

by Richard Lawler posted Feb 4th 2009 at 4:41PM

After much wrangling, the DTV Delay Act has worked its way through the House of Representatives and will certainly be signed by President Obama, changing the cutoff date for analog broadcasts from February 17 to June 12. Don't expect this to bring a sudden end to digital TV confusion, since stations can switch prior to that date, and according to the FCC up to 61% will be able to. Since simply powering analog equipment costs thousands of dollars a month, OTA TV watchers will want to check their local broadcaster's plans as more than a few will be going ahead with the original date for better or worse. Got an unused, expired coupon? No need to head to Retrevo just yet, since you'll now be able to reapply to the again-funded coupon program. Of course, the FCC still has to figure out how to implement the new law, with only a few days to prepare, tomorrow's open meeting on the subject should be very interesting.

Filed under: Regulatory, OTA

Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, converter coupon, ConverterCoupon, digital tv, DigitalTv, dtv, dtv delay act, DtvDelayAct, fcc, house of representatives, HouseOfRepresentatives, june 12, June12

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Highly Ranked

IseWise @ Feb 4th 2009 4:58PM

Let be the first to say: LAME!

Highest Ranked

Le Big Mac @ Feb 4th 2009 5:32PM

This new date is about as "hard" as overcooked pasta.

Booo. What happened to change? This is no change!

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Paul @ Feb 5th 2009 10:01AM

Technically, they "changed" the date. It's just not the good kind of "change" everyone fell for.

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IseWise @ Feb 4th 2009 4:58PM

Let me be the first to say: LAME!

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Ordeith @ Feb 4th 2009 6:11PM

And the second.

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John @ Feb 4th 2009 5:00PM

NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

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Michael @ Feb 4th 2009 7:53PM

No I never said Bush caused the delay and I never said that Obama made a good decision I believe that this should be treated like a band aid just rip it off.

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ShadowGod @ Feb 4th 2009 5:09PM

F***ing ridiculous. Obama is f***ing everything up. What an idiot.

Neutral

dishbreak @ Feb 4th 2009 5:58PM

I understand your frustration. Really, I do. But for you to say Obama is screwing everything up makes you about as uninformed as the 6.5 million numskulls who are not ready for DTV. Can it.

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ShadowGod @ Feb 4th 2009 6:04PM

Obama is a joke and an idiot. I will say whatever I want, deal with it.

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Ordeith @ Feb 4th 2009 6:13PM

Obama wanted this and pushed hard for it. It wouldn't have happened if he didn't want it. The man just doesn't get it.

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The Angry Intern @ Feb 4th 2009 6:36PM

It's not Obama, it's the FCC. I'm sure if McCain had won, we'd be in the same situation.

to quote the brilliant Eric Idle: "F**K you very much, the FCC!"

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Ordeith @ Feb 4th 2009 6:39PM

Why do people think Obama can do no wrong even when he clearly does wrong? He pratically wrote this bill.

We went from:

Everything bad is blamed on Bush, even if he had nothing to do with it.

to:

Everything bad is NOT blamed on Obama, even if he personally created the mess.

Wake up people.

Low Ranked

Michael @ Feb 4th 2009 6:56PM

That's right Obama is screwing everything up:
This delay will start a senseless war based on a lie ...no
This delay will ignore an intelligence report titled Bin Laden intended to attack within the United States and use hijacked airplanes in the process and allow a terrorist attack to occur ... no
This delay will due to poor disaster relief agency oversight allow a hurricane to destroy a city populated primarily by African-Americans ...no
This delay will allow a financial disaster of proportions not seen since the Great depression to occur also due to lack of oversight ...no
This delay will destroy the United States image around the world ...no
NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stop saying Obama is screwing up and try to remember what it was like during the last presidency,

Highest Ranked

Ordeith @ Feb 4th 2009 7:13PM

People were relatively happy with Bush his first year, after they got over the great election fiasco of 2000.

Obama is just getting started.

He has almost 4 years to catch up, give it time.

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John @ Feb 4th 2009 7:29PM

@Michael

ahhh seems that you are a obama lover. Please don't take that the wrong way.
But yes Obama is screwing this up big time. It is his fault and not the last presidency fault for this delay. Why? Because, read this part carefully, OBAMA WAS THE ONE THAT CALLED FOR THE DELAY NOT THE LAST PRESIDENCY.

But why did he call the delay? Oh yea because people were not informed about it and oh their was not enough money for the coupons. HMMMM let us ponder on that for a while.

Wooo yes people will NEVER be 100% informed of any technological change no matter what you do. As for the second part what makes anybody think that we are magically going to have enough money to fund these coupons in 4 months, YES 4 MONTHS, when we couldn't do it in 3 years.

Oh yea btw, who is going to pay for this funding of coupons that has been extended for 4 more months? Oh yea, me. So i will not only be paying for the program in taxes before obama came but now I have to pay even more through taxes to support this 4 month delay.

So yes, i say yes again, Obama is fucking this thing up. So much for change.

Neutral

Michael @ Feb 4th 2009 8:04PM

Please do not use offensive language I will respond to your opinions in a calm and rational way if you are willing to do the same in return

I respect your opinion just as I have a right to say that Bush was terrible you have a right to claim that Barack Obama is an idiot so lets see some proof of how you arrived at your conclusion that Barack Obama is an idiot

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VampireHunter Z @ Feb 4th 2009 11:23PM

I love gadgets and technology more than many of you here but Obama is doing the right thing. The country cannot afford the transition right now. They still need more time for the digital box coupon program to work. They simply don't have the money until the stimulus bill is passed.

Trust me, I got my first OTA digital box back in 2005 and wish the everyone could see what I was seeing. But we have to look pass our digital desires and look at the bigger picture. No one is trying to stifle technology here. This is the right decision.

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Blair @ Feb 5th 2009 12:32AM

Can't afford it? Most every station is most likely 95% ready to switch. Remember the Feb 17 deadline? Yeah, that has been hard coded for 3 years. Saying we have no money to do this is a lie, since its less than 2 weeks til the first transition, most stations should have been ready already.

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John @ Feb 5th 2009 1:52AM

@Michael

i do not need to show you proof that he is an idiot because his actions are already louder than his words.

example: so the man preaches change and that this country is spending way to much and that needs to be controlled.

Really Mr. Presidents than why did you have a 150 million dollars party after you election?
Because you are the first black president? Who is going to pay for this? oh me? how? Oh yes you want to raise my taxes after I already pay 40%. hmm interesting. Idiot.

He said "to much spending" but he continues on to spend like crazy. He preaches change and yet i see none.

And I have said before we are all going to be paying for this delay through taxes. Why should i pay for someone else to watch TV. You need a converter box go buy one.

What you don't have enough money? Really!!!!! Did you not see those ads for the past three years that you are going to need a converter box? You did!!!! Than why did you not get one?

The answer... TO LAZY AND/OR TO CHEAP.

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squiggleslash @ Feb 5th 2009 9:50AM

@John - the inauguration cost roughly the same as the 2004 Bush re-inauguration - people who quoted wildly different figures generally "forgot" that the $150M included the cost of security. Yes, $150M sounds like too much to be spending on that kind of thing, but it had nothing to do with Obama being the "first black President".

As far as Obama being "stupid", he's not the one demanding that analog TV be turned off at a time when the coupon system is severely oversubscribed, two and a half million people are waiting for them, when the economy has collapsed and millions are suddenly in the position that $50+ for a converter box is a big deal, and where the only benefit to having the system turned off is that Qualcomm can introduce a low-def subscription-only digital TV system that only works with some mobile phones that nobody has.

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Patrick @ Feb 4th 2009 5:21PM

Ug, lame indeed. *sigh*... Will it ever end?

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cypherx @ Feb 4th 2009 5:21PM

This is bull!

This will cause more problems than ever! With less than 2 weeks to go, everything is already scheduled to transition, people already know about it. What a crock!

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Andy @ Feb 4th 2009 5:26PM

Old people that haven't switched by February 17th are going to see that switching wasn't needed, and aren't going to go buy a converter now, thinking it would be useless. This has only caused more confusion.

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Ordeith @ Feb 4th 2009 6:16PM

THIS is how out of touch the democrats are!

Some will think that Feb 17th was a hoax and they don't have to do anything.

Some stations will switch anyway, others won't, further adding to the confusion.

Several industries invested in the switch will together lose millions of dollars by the delay. Great economic timing.

Washington doesn't care abou the industries, the people, the logistics, nothing. They knee jerk to our detriment. This isn't limited to just DTV.

Be wary of politicians bearing promises.

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Shadowguitar @ Feb 5th 2009 6:54PM

Yeah, I really disagree with Obama on this one. I volunteered and voted for him, but what he's doing here isn't very smart. People that haven't switched by now shouldn't get help paying for the converter boxes - they messed up, and they should deal with it. I don't want to pay to support someone's laziness or stupidity. It's frustrating and ridiculous that people are making this into something bigger than it is, though. Most stations will still switch on Feb. 17, so that's not a problem. Life will go on, I promise you. The world won't end because of this.

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Jorge @ Feb 4th 2009 5:44PM

That's another kick in the nuts for evolution and once again we have to wait for slow people to catch up. When is the government going to understand that most people who aren't ready yet won't be in June either. The best way is to do the switch now and leave those who are left behind be forced to catch up.

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squiggleslash @ Feb 5th 2009 8:38AM

Why do so many of the "WE must go ahead with the switch now!" party parroting this insane nonsense that the only people who haven't switched are somehow stupid?

Here's the issue: converting to digital means either buying new TVs or purchasing a converter box. Until last year, very few lower cost TVs contained a digital tuner. You generally had to spend $500+ to get anything that had ATSC support built in. So the vast majority of TVs sold to people on low incomes are NTSC only.

Now, the government came up with a converter box coupon scheme to help pay for the $50+ boxes required to convert TVs to digital. This has a number of issues, not least the fact that there was never enough money in the pot to fund the converter box scheme, which presumed that the coupons weren't really necessary because most people who needed the boxes could easily afford them anyway.

Unfortunately, the economy has collapsed, so there's been a run on the coupons, and now there are none left. There is a waiting list of two and half million right now of people hoping to get a coupon if someone lucky enough to receive one doesn't use it.

That's the issue. Not "confusion". Not "Anyone who didn't buy a $2,000 plasma TV back in 1987 when the ATSC committee first came into being is an idiot", but the following factors:

1. Economy has collapsed. People need coupons.
2. No coupons.
3. Two and a half million people without them.

Now, the other argument that keeps coming up is that if we don't turn off analog RIGHT NOW then somehow the world's going to end.

With respect, this is bullshit. The new frequencies are going to be used for two services, LTE and Mobile TV. LTE isn't ready yet, and nobody expects commercial deployment of LTE to start until next year. Mobile TV is actually a step down from NTSC, it's lower resolution, subscription only, and requires more expensive equipment to receive it that doesn't actually exist (as in, is in end-consumer's hands) right now. Pocketable NTSC TVs have existed for decades.

So, in summary:

1. Economy has collapsed. Millions of people need coupons.
2. No coupons.
3. Two and a half million people waiting for coupons.
4. No benefit to turning off analog right now
5. Turning off analog right now actually has disadvantages.

Why are we rushing to turn off analog again?

I'd seriously like to hear a counter argument, because everytime I've mentioned this I get voted down but I never actually get a response. I know it's an unpopular view, but why are we so adamant we have to turn off analog transmissions when there is no practical advantage to doing so, and doing so will ONLY have the affect of preventing millions from watching TV, and will do nothing to bring forward the digital services that we want to see?

Highest Ranked

gib @ Feb 5th 2009 10:37AM

You have heard all the arguments, the confused vs. stupid vs. too poor, and on and on. That doesn't really answer WHY it is a bad idea to switch the dates. Here's one --

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/01/stations_dont_want_to_wait.php

[The delay] threw into havoc the plans of station managers, who hadn’t counted on perhaps having to maintain both an analog and a digital signal for an extra four months. The change has made budgeting in a recession-tinged 2009 even more challenging.

“We are not in favor of a delay,” said Mark Metzger, general manager of KEVU-TV and KLSR-TV in Eugene, Ore. “It costs an extra $5,000 a month to keep [a dual digital and analog signal] going as is. That’s in electricity costs alone.”

Beyond the electricity costs of broadcasting two signals, stations now may face a new round of costs—in both cash and labor—of telling audiences about the new date.

Many managers lamented that their stations spent time, money and man-hours to get transmitters ready, inform viewers and troubleshoot, only to have the rug pulled out right before the payoff.

And now they literally have to pay for it.

One station manager who declined to be identified likened the situation to selling a house, only to have the buyer back out at the last minute.

“Now you have to pay the mortgage and utilities on both houses for the next four months,” he said.

He said stations might have to resort to staff cuts to compensate for the unexpected costs.

Here's another --

http://www.bluedonut.com/2001/01/ripoff-of-widescreen-tv-sports.html

Watching sports is a big reason why guys purchase big widescreen high-definition TV sets. But the fact is: no TV sporting event on any major network is being shot to take advantage of the wider screen.

...in the standard baseball shot from the center field camera, the extra space on the sides (it's mathematically one quarter of that pricey wide screen you've paid for) is useless. They show a few bums in the crowd. This isn't just about baseball or ESPN. It's ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Comcast, Versus. They intentionally leave 1/4 of the screen pretty vacant. The practice has a name: "center-cut protection." It's meant to ensure sure that millions of older TV sets that aren't wide don't miss any action.

Wider screens are great for movies, which are filmed wider. And the promise was that widescreen TV would deliver new ways of looking at sports: you could have a quarterback way over here on the left and a receiver way over there on the right. Cool! But no.

You just get the standard shot, framed the standard way, with essentially blank space on the sides. This isn't going to change soon, because millions of 4-by-3 TV sets aren't going away soon. Which means TV sports producers really aren't even thinking about new ways to frame shots to take advantage of wide screen.

Neutral

squiggleslash @ Feb 5th 2009 11:17AM

gib - Both of these counter arguments are completely false.

* Under what just passed congress, after February, continuing to carry an NTSC signal will be optional, not mandatory. Any station that's having problems broadcasting both NTSC and ATSC can drop analog completely. Nobody is being forced to keep an NTSC signal alive.
* Nor is it the case that sports are being filmed for fullscreen, so far as I can see. The superbowl was very 16:9 on my TV... Even though if it were the case, the digital transition wouldn't change that. The majority of TVs after February will be 4:3.

I ended up writing my views in my journal, but my personal opinion is that the delay wasn't enough. I would have, in addition to what was proposed, endorsed the following:

1. The extension should go on to November 1st, so that storm season can be adequately covered. There really aren't any battery powered converter boxes or battery powered ATSC TVs right now, so in many ways the analog switchoff is premature anyway.
2. In any area where an all-digital switch has occured, have a single local NTSC channel continue to run operated by a consortium of the local government (which can fund it) and the local network affliates (who can provide news content in emergencies) whose role would be to provide coverage during emergencies.

Personally, I think (2) should continue for several years, not just until November.

Highly Ranked

gib @ Feb 5th 2009 1:27PM

1. The "optional" switch-over will mean two things... Some will switch others will not, creating an understandable reason for people to be confused. I don't know what was confusing about ALL stations mandated to switch on one particular day, whereas some stations switching and others not is fairly random. It will also mean that the stations who switch to all digital, trying to save their costs for distributing their stations, will lose market-share and the station's advertising income will tank.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100162938

"... A delay would be a financial strain on stations that have already powered up their new digital transmitters and are just waiting to shut down their old analog units on Feb. 17. Many TV stations are struggling. Their audience is shrinking, and some networks are predicting ad revenue will drop 7 percent or more this year."

So, all around the station can either waste money keeping the analog signal going and trying to inform viewers of their new switch, or lose money from ads and drop in the viewers. Lucky them.

2. I wasn't saying (neither was the articles I mentioned before) that TV shows, especially sports, should abandon 4x3 TVs. I was saying that the fact is producers must deal with two different standards (and two different ratios), and that the people that have upgraded to 16x9 are not getting any benefit for having the wider ratio. Everything is filmed in the center, in case 4x3 TV users are watching. If you watch a 16x9 program on a digital station, using a converter box, it will letterbox the programming for a 4x3 TV automatically. Everyone would see the same 16x9 program, and the producers would not have to worry about "center-cut protection".

3. I have no problems with keeping a Public Service Announcement station on. I think it would be a great idea, and so does the FCC.

http://www.telecoms-mag.com/NewsGlobe/Regulatory/article.asp?HH_ID=AR_4725

"U.S. regulators on Thursday approved the use of temporary traditional TV broadcasts for emergency information after the switch to digital television, even as momentum builds for extending the February 17 transition date. Under the program cleared by the Federal Communications Commission, households that are not prepared to receive digital signals will see a notice on their screen in English and Spanish after the switch, providing a phone number for more information. Viewers will also receive emergency weather and public safety information for 30 days after the transition."

Neutral

gib @ Feb 5th 2009 1:42PM

"Here's the issue: converting to digital means either buying new TVs or purchasing a converter box. Until last year, very few lower cost TVs contained a digital tuner. You generally had to spend $500+ to get anything that had ATSC support built in. So the vast majority of TVs sold to people on low incomes are NTSC only."

Actually, here's what the FCC and the United States Government mandated back in 2002, when they started talking about the switch...

"The FCC has issued the following mandates for devices entering the US

1. By July 1, 2005 all televisions with screen sizes over 36" must include a built-in ATSC DTV tuner
2. By March 1, 2006 all televisions with screen sizes over 25" must include a built-in ATSC DTV tuner
3. By March 1, 2007 all televisions regardless of screen size, and all interface devices which include a tuner (VCR, DVD player/recorder, DVR) must include a built-in ATSC DTV tuner."

That doesn't sound like last year to me... that was 4 years ago. Even piece-o-crap TVs sold at Walmart (shutter) have to follow those guidelines.

Highest Ranked

Ordeith @ Feb 4th 2009 6:12PM

Obama wanted this and pushed hard for it. It wouldn't have happened if he didn't want it. The man just doesn't get it.

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blakepro @ Feb 4th 2009 6:34PM

This sucks... Now everyone is going to be confused. And What about Tropical Storm Season? What a dumb thing to do...

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Jeff N. @ Feb 4th 2009 6:42PM

This will totally confuse people. What a fricking mess.
And I bet there will still be millions not ready in June either.
Like I have said before, there never will be a perfect time to do this transition.

Highest Ranked

MI @ Feb 4th 2009 6:39PM

Lets see if it's more or less confusion when stations still shut down at the end of this month.

Just plain stupid.

Neutral

Mike P @ Feb 4th 2009 6:41PM

I was hoping they would bring back B&W only stations.. I really miss those too.

Low Ranked

Michael @ Feb 4th 2009 7:05PM

Neutral

David S @ Feb 5th 2009 6:09AM

Is this EngadgetHD or Politico?

The title of the thread is It's official: DTV "hard date" moved to June 12.

Obama started pushing for this during his transition. I hold him responsible. I hold Bush responsible for his faults, but this is Obama's first.

The real confusion will kick in if some stations decide to switch early, and you have a mismatch of digital only and analog/digitial in certain markets.

And any deadline brings in late arrivers, that always happens. Obama could have done something different, like a mail in rebate that would allow people to pay for the converter before 2/17 and get their money back afterward. No need to wait for coupons. Instead we have this mess.

Highly Ranked

Franck3D @ Feb 5th 2009 9:46AM

"This delay will due to poor disaster relief agency oversight allow a hurricane to destroy a city populated primarily by African-Americans ...no"

Wow, if only Bush had spent more money on the weather controlling machines...
But I heard he hates black people, so what are you gonna do?

Highest Ranked

ZeitgeistXIII @ Feb 4th 2009 7:10PM

If people did not get ready by now they certainly will not be ready in June. Its the story of the ant and the grasshopper. Poor or not some people are just plain cheap there are people at my work who earn plenty of mney have jobs and still have not done anything to get ready. They dont hve cable, just bunny ears. These are not some poor social bordered people they just wont do anything till they have to.

As for not being able to get coupons, what a load if they have them and they expired what the *&^% were they doing with the whole time they had them? Using them as wall paper? Window dressing? Gluing them to a TV thinking thats all they had to do and the TV fairy was gonna come by and give them magic boxes? Stores didnt have them? Well have them order or issue a rain check using the coupon for you. I just dont get the logic there will ALWAYs be people who procrastinate and well thenthey should get left behind. These are the same people who forget tabs for their car tags? Or tax day? Maybe we should not have deadlines anymore for anything, we can start in schools for tests and homework move into business and civic support. We can all lay about and moan all the time we need more time and feel good knowing none of it matters any more since nobody cares. Just think of the economic repercussions, Fed Ex could change its motto to "When it absolutely positvely has to be there, eh when we get around to it" People will be thankful to get anything at that point.

I was going to finish this but I can do it in 9 months and I am sure people will read it then too.

Highly Ranked

Billy @ Feb 4th 2009 9:23PM

Your right some people are just cheap, if they did'nt now do it they won't want to do it, think now that they don't have to,they should of just switched over, let them get a box or a new tv,besides them old tv's won't last that long, why would anyone still want to stay with analog anyway

Highest Ranked

ZeitgeistXIII @ Feb 4th 2009 7:11PM

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John B @ Feb 4th 2009 8:03PM

So, because "millions" of people were too damned cheap to go out any buy a f**king $40 box at Wal-Mart over the past year, we now have to push this date out and spend millions of dollars to whining procrastination.

How pathetic.

Highest Ranked

stealle @ Feb 4th 2009 10:19PM

This is just dumb. The people who aren't ready can do without TV. TV IS NOT A NECESSITY!!! People have done without TV in the past and lived to tell about it. I understand that $40 seems like a lot of money to some people but if you need some form of media to be entertained or alerted of disasters then turn on the radio until you can get a coupon.

Obama obviously cares nothing about the debt this country is in. He is fueling a fire that was already out of control. Are children and grandchildren are going to pay dearly for this mess.

Neutral

nistorica @ Feb 4th 2009 10:36PM

Instead of 2 coupons,they should have given 1 adapter free per household.

Neutral

squiggleslash @ Feb 5th 2009 11:22AM

I'd like to see them consider something similar. Now that coupons have gone from being "compensation from the telcos for making your TV not work" to "necessary because people can't afford $50 converter boxes or cable now they're out of a job", it would make sense to change to a one coupon per household allotment. The focus should be on ensuring that people can get TV, not that they can watch it in both their bedroom and the livingroom.

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